Viewing Cumulus on an alternative system

[gluepack]

Well, I couldn't find anything re. this on other threads, honest

So, I have Cumulus running on a Win 8 desktop system in one part of the house where it is easiest to set up the attached USB display device for data collection.

However, apart from the obvious of looking at wunderground.com where the data is uploaded to, can I look at the collected data dynamically (or with minimal time lapse) on a network attached laptop (running Win 7) through an alternative invocation of Cumulus (or other software)? Would I FTP it or view the generated data files for example and does Cumulus cater for receipt of data in that way?

[steve]

There's currently no way to do this directly with Cumulus. I tend to look at my web site, or sometimes use remote desktop to log in to the machine running Cumulus.

You may get some other suggestions...

[Jim Brown]

You can do it using Team Viewer.

[Sunrise Pilot]

I use TightVNC re remote into my weather server from anywhere.

Make sure you set up port forwarding and a secure password.

Cheers
Doug

[Karv]

Oddly I had pretty much the same thought today, and am toying with a few ideas.

I don't really want to be looking at web sites or running additional web servers or anything complicated, something to read and display realtime.txt over the LAN using a shared drive can't be too hard though.

[uncle_bob]

As above, use one of the following..
Remote Desktop with is built into Windows.
VNC, Team Viewer or Logmein.

[Jim Brown]

Cumulus across my network using Team Viewer. Cumulus along with WUHU, WL, VPLive and VVP are running on a netbook used only for weather. This my main desktop accessing the netbook using TV. I can also control all programs on the netbook via from this computer.

[jdc]

Another vote for TeamViewer. Perfect access to my PCs from Android tablet, too.

[Karv]

Whilst I agree that Teamviewer/logmein etc are great tools for remote controlling your a different machine, that is a major sledgehammer for viewing current cumulus data is it not?

[uncle_bob]

Whilst I agree that Teamviewer/logmein etc are great tools for remote controlling your a different machine, that is a major sledgehammer for viewing current cumulus data is it not?

If you can recommend any smaller types of hammers, we'd be all ears

[BCJKiwi]

Logmein/teamviewer are hosted systems and unless I've missed a setup option, require operating via an external host which manages the account info and systems to connect to - all site names and access details are held on their site(s) but not the actual final login to the system itself! OK if you want to connect to multiple remote systems from multiple locations - access is all via a web browser.

VNC (its derivatives) and RDP provide a direct connection to a remote system without going through an intermediary.
Access is via the program, not a browser.

RDP does not allow Ctrl-Alt-Del on the remote system so you need to navigate and do everything you need in that area via the menu structure of the remote. Thanks uncle_bob - Use Ctrl-Alt-End instead

Real VNC cannot transfer files with the free version, most of the other VNC (free) flavours can.
I have used Logmein, RDP, and UltraVNC for many years and continue to do so.
Currently use UltraVNC on my main PC to operate the Cumulus PC via the local LAN and Wyse's Pocketcloud for Android (free from the Play Store) on my phone and tablet to connect to UltraVNC on the Cumulus PC.
You can daisy chain and/or open multiple remotes with UltraVNC (and some other flavours).

[uncle_bob]

RDP does not allow Ctrl-Alt-Del on the remote system so you need to navigate and do everything you need in that area via the menu structure of the remote.

Try CTRL+ALT+END

[steve]

I use the built-in remote desktop and don't find it a burden, given that all of the software is already installed, and a user has to be logged in on the server anyway. In Windows 8 (as the client) it even remembers my login details (I don't remember Windows 7 doing that, but I may be mistaken), so with one click I'm viewing the Cumulus main screen.

It did occur to me that if the realtime grabber application could read a realtime.txt on a network, that would be a neat way of doing it. Maybe it already can?

[peterh]

As a matter of fact, my current rainy-saturday-afternoon-fidgeting-on-the-kitchen-table project (https://cumulus.hosiene.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=9178) would enable one to use a remote Cumulus-type program.

Currently, I use Remote Desktop to do that, and yes, Windows 7 terminal client will also happily remember your login details.

[gluepack]

Wow, two pages already, thanks for that.

OK, so I used Remote Desktop Connection and, it worked great, just what I wanted.

However, there were some interesting things along the way....

- ok so my partner and I both use the desktop system running 32 bit Win 8 (on a relatively high end Pentium D)
- the desktop system is cable attached to a small hub which in turn is connected to the device that provides 5mbs internet access from an antenna
- the laptop is connected via wifi to a small wifi hub used purely as a gateway and that is in turn cable connected to the other hub (we also use a Nexus 7 and another laptop, purely for receipt of internet TV, both wifi. Neither were on at the time).
- I also have an ip camera attached to the wired hub transmitting to wunderground every minute
- cumulus was running on my session on the desktop system and it is transmitting rapid to wunderground and once per minute to two other services
- I used the laptop (64 bit Win 7 on a I5-2430) to connect to my session on the desktop system
- after a false start where I had to set the desktop to allow remote it took a little while for a full screen (black) to appear on the laptop
- then nothing it just sat there as a black screen, small drop down menu at the top on which, not having known what to expect to see with remote desktop, I tried all the options and nothing seemed to happen
- meanwhile, my partner, who I had usurped from the desktop system wanted to get back on to her session so I said go ahead, using "Lock" on my session to allow her to switch
- returning to the laptop, while she waited to get on to her session on the desktop, suddenly I noticed the black screen lighten and then, just as suddenly, the Win 8 desktop session appeared on the laptop, wow! Winkeying it took me to the Cumulus program, which is just what I had hoped for all along
- however, then my partner complained that all she had was a black screen, for a long time, having back arrowed from my logon icon in order to logon to her session (I don't know how common it is for her but when I try to "lock" her session and go to mine it takes a criminal amount of time before I can log on usually)
-ok, so eventually, the logon icons appeared and she attempted to log in to her already active, albeit "lock"ed session and it came up with a warning message saying that my session would be disconnected
- annoyed that may affect my remote session from the laptop anyway and unsure of the meaning of "disconnect" in this context because they only use "lock" and "sign out" in Win 8 and I wasn't sure whether that would cause Cumulus to stop running, I returned to the laptop to find a banner message across the remote window essentially implying the same thing. So I cancelled the remote session, dammit!
- so I then let my partner continue to log in but after restoring a browser session and using the back arrow she suddenly got a purple screen with a 5x4 checkerboard of white squares in the centre (although 2 diagonally opposite corners were purple)
- after trying every key combination (except Alt-F4) to try and get some progression, it suddenly switched to a full screen calendar ??? from which I alt-tab'd back to her browser session and she continued
- lol, only to be told, a few minutes later that she had back arrowed in the browser again to the same purple screen with checkerboard in the centre, which, by the time I investigated, had turned to a full screen calendar again from which I Alt-F4'd out of it hopefully to never be seen again.

OK, so Remote Desktop Connection appears to work great....

However, it took an age to come up on the Win 7 laptop (first the black window and eventually the Win 8 desktop, probably near ten minutes in total although I could be exaggerating). Whether, that is a "first time" thing (I don't want to upset my partner any more by trying again yet), a system thing, a network thing, a Win8/Win7 thing, etc. I don't know.

Secondly, what is the implication of my partner going ahead and logging in while I am using Remote Connect (forcing a disconnect on my "lock"ed Win 8 session)? I assume that it would have no effect and that the display would still provide USB input and Cumulus would continue to run, submitting data to the web but then why bother to display a warning message (what on earth is the difference between "lock" and disconnect, a non-Win7/8 term, anyway? After having already been foiled by my system hibernating when I assumed that the USB display passing data and Cumulus sending data would inhibit that, I am a bit leery about allowing anything other than "lock" to occur.

Thirdly, although I don't necessarily expect an answer, what is with this purple screen and checkerboard and fullscreen calendar showing up?
Edit... oh silly me, the checkerboard is the Calendar charm, having never used it I didn't have a clue and my partner swears she has never used it either so why it appeared and for such a long time before switching to the actual calendar is a mystery.